If Sudan refuses to act, Sweden favors sanctions to end Darfur crisis

STOCKHOLM, Aug 30 (AFP) — If Sudan’s government fails to bow to international pressure and increase efforts to resolve the humanitarian crisis in Darfur Swedish Foreign Minister Laila Freivalds said on Monday that she was in favor of sanctions against the country.

“If we get the feeling that there is no will (to fulfill international demands for action), then we have to think of other measures,” Freivalds, who left South Africa for meetings in Sudan on Monday, said in an interview with Swedish public radio program Ekot.

“It is very important that the Sudanese government is clear on the fact that the pressure from the international community is very strong. We will not accept anything short of the Sudanese government doing what we expect them to do,” she added.

The Swedish foreign minister made her remarks on the same day the United Nation’s Secretary General Kofi Annan was due to report to the Security Council on what if any progress has been made in returning stability to Darfur since the body gave Khartoum a 30-day ultimatum on July 30.

According to UN estimates, during the 18-month old conflict more than 1.4 million people have fled their homes and more than 30,000 have been killed, many of them in government raids against black African tribes seen as rebel sympathizers.